“Nigerian authorities in northwest Kaduna state have closed 13 schools after
more than 140 students were kidnapped Monday from a Baptist high school.

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


July 7, 2021

 

Voice Of America: Nigerian State Closes Schools After 140 Students Kidnapped
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“Nigerian authorities in northwest Kaduna state have closed 13 schools after
more than 140 students were kidnapped Monday from a Baptist high school. The
closures follow a string of armed attacks on schools that authorities say
threaten to permanently damage Nigerian children's education. Kaduna State
Schools Quality Assurance Authority officials say a risk assessment shows the
13 schools are the most vulnerable to attacks. The attack on Bethel Baptist
High school Monday is the latest in a spate of school kidnappings for ransom
and the fourth such mass kidnapping in the state in five months. Kaduna
authorities said 26 people, including a woman teacher, have been rescued and
that troops are searching for missing kidnap victims. But a local clergyman
said an initial verification showed only 20 out of 180 students boarding at the
school before the attack had been accounted for. Amnesty International's Seun
Bakare says attacks and school closures signal severe threats to education in
Nigeria. “We risk the loss of a generation if these attacks on schools and
attacks on education continue,” Bakare said.”

 

The National: UK Aircraft Carrier To Challenge ISIS In Middle East
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“The British Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier will carry out operations
against ISIS when it enters the Middle East, the head of the UK's armed forces
has told a meeting of Gulf military leaders. Gen Sir Nick Carter committed HMS
Queen Elizabeth to live operations against the terrorists when he hosted the
Dragon Group of generals in London. The group, made up of military chiefs from
the six GCC countries plus Egypt, Jordan and Iraq was holding its fourth annual
meeting since it was set up in 2018 to assist security planning. During
discussions on defence co-operation and other issues at Lancaster House
yesterday, the Chief of the Defence Staff told the assembled senior ranks that
Britain would demonstrate its commitment to maintain security in the Middle
East. Part of that will come from the Navy’s 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier, the
most modern in the world, that is anchored off Sicily after conducting strike
missions against ISIS by F35 jets launched in the Eastern Mediterranean. HMS
Queen Elizabeth will soon head through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea and
Arabian Sea, placing its aircraft within range of targets in the region. It
will also send a message to Iran on the extent of Britain’s naval strength.”

 

United States

 

The New York Times: Self-Described Virginia Militiaman Is Arrested In Capitol
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“In mid-June, a self-described Virginia militiaman drove with a new
acquaintance from his home in Alexandria to a former prison in the nearby town
of Lorton, about 15 miles away. His mission was a secret one, prosecutors say:
He was scouting a location where he could test a batch of Molotov cocktails he
was planning to make. The man, Fi Duong, apparently liked the prison and,
according to court papers, he told his friend — and another man who joined them
— that it was “the perfect place” to do the job. “Technically,” the papers
quote him as saying before the group departed, “you’re engaging in war or
conflict. But again, what is the price we ultimately pay for peace?” What Mr.
Duong did not know, however, was that the other men were not like-minded
activists who shared his beliefs in a pending civil war and the need for
Virginia to secede from the union. They were instead federal agents who had
been spying on him and some of his associates since shortly after the riot at
the Capitol six months ago. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors unsealed a
complaint against Mr. Duong, charging him not with making bombs but with
illegally breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6. In the complaint, they did not
accuse Mr. Duong of committing any violence, but rather accused him of
repeatedly using violent rhetoric and conducting surveillance at the Capitol in
the weeks after the attack by the pro-Trump mob.”

 

Syria

 

Arab News: Killings Spark Fear Of Daesh Resurgence
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“Fears are growing of a resurgence of Daesh after a spate of killings at a
camp in northeast Syria that houses extremist fighters’ families. At least
eight people were shot dead last month in the sprawling tent city of Al-Hol in
Hasakeh province. They included a 16-year-old Iraqi refugee and two Syrian
sisters aged 17 and 23. Daesh cells inside Al-Hol were carrying out “killings
of residents who distance themselves from the extremist ideas of the group,”
the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said. The SDF said in April there had
been 47 killings in Al-Hol in the first three months of the year, and they had
captured 125 Daesh members in a security sweep in the camp. The UN has warned
of radicalization inside the camp, which houses about 50,000 Syrian and Iraqi
refugees, mostly women and children, and has a separate annex holding about
10,000 other women and children linked to Daesh members. Syria’s Kurds hold
thousands of Daesh fighters in jails, and their relatives in camps, after
expelling the militants in 2019 from the last patch of the territory they
controlled. The Kurdish authorities have repeatedly urged the international
community to repatriate their nationals, but most countries have so far taken
back only some of the children.”

 

Iraq

 

The Jerusalem Post: ISIS Targets Electricity Lines In Iraq To Spread Mayhem
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“Iraqi security forces have a new problem to deal with, as ISIS terrorists
have been attacking electric power lines, usually the kind that travel long
distances on large pylons. The worldwide jihadist group has attacked dozens in
recent weeks. Now Iraq says that it ambushed some of the terrorists near the
city of Hit. It has succeeded in thwarting attacks in Diyala province.  For
Iraq, this is only a minor respite in a hot summer where it appears that not
enough electricity is being generated. Blackouts are normal. Iran is also not
transferring electricity to Iraq because it has a crisis. ISIS has started
attacking this infrastructure as a way to send a message that it still controls
the countryside. Many Iraqis use generators or are forced to go without
electricity when this happens. “About 44 to 45 electricity towers in Iraq have
been targeted by terrorists in recent days, most of which have been repaired,”
say local reports.  Meanwhile, in other parts of Iraq, there have been
increasing attacks on US forces by pro-Iran militias. ISIS is also attacking
Iraqi checkpoints in some parts of the country. This means that Iraq faces
numerous challenges to its basic security. Iran is trying to grab parts of Iraq
and pressure the US to leave; ISIS is trying to grab another part.”

 

Turkey

 

Daily Sabah: Turkey Arrests Daesh Terrorist Plotting Bomb Attack
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“Turkish security forces on Tuesday apprehended a Daesh terrorist planning to
carry out an attack in the country's southern province of Adana. The
counterterrorism units carried out a raid upon receiving intelligence from the
National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Ihlas News Agency (IHA) reported. The
41-year-old terrorist, identified as Irfan Ç. and codenamed “Abu Ahmed,” had
been planning to carry out a bomb attack, sources said. He was detained in the
Kabasakal Cemetery in the Çukurova district. He had been trying to unify the
terrorist group in Turkey after ringleader Mahmut Özden was apprehended in
2020. He also held talks with the Syria-based Daesh figure responsible for the
terrorist group’s operations in Turkey and had been plotting a coordinated
attack. Police also raided the terrorist’s home and confiscated digital
materials and found correspondence with senior Daesh terrorists. He was
transferred to court after completing his procedures at the police station and
was arrested and sent to prison. The terrorist had been imprisoned in 2015 for
recruiting terrorists for Daesh but he was released in 2019. Although the
terrorist group has been largely defeated in Iraq and Syria, its presence still
poses a threat as individuals following its ideology encourage others to carry
out violence.”

 

Afghanistan

 

The Wall Street Journal: In Afghan Peace Talks, The Taliban Gain Legitimacy
While Pursuing War
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“Taliban representatives and Afghan government delegates meet every few days
at a beachfront Ritz-Carlton resort and spa here, the unhurried pace of their
peace talks sharply contrasting with the raging war back home. In recent weeks,
the insurgents have seized nearly a third of Afghanistan’s rural districts and
besieged several provincial capitals, taking advantage of the withdrawal of
American forces that is nearing completion. The Doha negotiations, launched
last September, were meant to find a peaceful settlement to the four-decades
long Afghan war. Now, they risk becoming a mechanism through which the Taliban
could legitimize their recent military victories, gaining international
approval for an eventual takeover, Afghan government representatives warn. “The
delays that we see from the other side in the progress of talks are not
corresponding to the sense of urgency that we have. The violence needs to end,
the war needs to end, and we need to reach a political settlement,” said senior
government negotiator Nader Nadery, who heads Afghanistan’s civil service
commission. “Are they hoping to take over militarily, and then to give it some
sort of cover, to say ‘Oh, we are talking in Doha?’ We are aware of these
traps.”

 

BBC News: Afghanistan Withdrawal Stokes Fears Of Al-Qaeda Comeback
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“Western intelligence chiefs are worried. They have good reason to be. The
hurried departure this month of the remaining Western forces from Afghanistan,
decreed by US President Joe Biden, has emboldened Taliban insurgents. In recent
days they have seized one district after another, overrunning bases where
demoralised government troops have often surrendered or fled. Now, say
observers, the spectre of international terrorism is making an unwelcome
return. “The Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan makes a Taliban takeover
inevitable and gives al-Qaeda the opportunity to rebuild its network, to the
point where it could once again plot attacks around the world,” Dr Sajjan
Gohel, a security and terrorism analyst, told the BBC. That is certainly at the
more pessimistic end of the spectrum but two things are certain here. Firstly,
the Taliban - the hardline Islamists who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 with
a rod of iron - are coming back in some form. For now, they say they have no
ambition to take Kabul, the capital, by force. But in large parts of the
country they are already the dominant force and they have never dropped their
demand to make the country an Islamic Emirate according to their own strict
guidelines.”

 

NBC News: Taliban Parade New Weapons Seized From Afghan Military As U.S.
Withdraws
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“The Taliban have showed off containers full of weapons and military hardware
seized from the Afghan military as American forces withdraw from the country
and the militants march across the country. The weaponry includes 900 guns, 30
light tactical vehicles and 20 army pickup trucks, according to NBC News' U.K.
partner Sky News, which was granted access to the Sultan Khil military base in
the Wardak province close to the Afghan capital, Kabul. District after district
has fallen to the Taliban. The militants have seized 120 districts since May 1,
according to an ongoing assessment by the Long War Journal. The map is a moving
patchwork, but at last count the Taliban controlled 193 districts and contested
130, while 75 were under the control of the government or are undetermined,
according to the publication, which reports on the global war on terror and is
a project of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington
think tank. At the same time, many military outposts have been surrendered
without a fight, allowing the Taliban to seize weapons, according to multiple
Afghan military and government sources. Sky News filmed fighters carrying new
weapons seized from the base, where a white flag signifying the Taliban
takeover was flying.”

 

Middle East

 

Gulf News: UAE Seeks To Tighten Anti-Money Laundering And Terror Financing
Measures
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“The UAE’s National Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Financing of
Terrorism and Illegal Organisations (NAMLCFTC) has urged financial sector
regulators and law enforcement agencies to tighten their procedures to combat
money laundering and terror financing. A meeting of the NAMLCFTC chaired by
Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) and
Chairman of the NAMLCFTC urged regulators update their internal procedures and
systems, based on a guidance paper introduced by the NAMLCFTC to strengthen
public institutions’ roles in checking money laundering and terror financing.
“Effectively responding to the threat of financial crime, notably money
laundering and terrorist financing, requires a concerted effort and the
mobilisation of the public and private sectors’ collective resources and
expertise. As such, the UAE is strengthening its cooperation with local and
international financial institutions to swiftly monitor and report any and all
activities deemed suspicious,” said Balama. The guidance paper clarifies the
implementation of Cabinet Resolution No. (74) of 2020 concerning the list of
terrorists and implementation of UN Security Council decisions relating to
preventing and countering financing terrorism and leveraging non-proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction, and the relevant resolutions.”

 

Nigeria

 

The Nation: Nigerian Forces Neutralize 11 Boko Haram Militants In Offensive
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“The Nigerian military said Tuesday that troops neutralized 11 Boko Haram
militants in two separate battles in volatile northeast Borno State. Army
spokesman Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement that special forces
on patrol and clearance operations during the weekend encountered terrorists at
Ngoshe-Ashigashiya, a flashpoint of terror activities. “The troops, who
fiercely engaged and sustained heavy gun fire on the terrorists during the
encounter neutralised five terrorists,” he said. Nwachukwu said militants were
also intercepted while crossing a supply route along Auno - Jakana, about 35
kilometers (22 miles) from the state capital. He said militants were moving
with trucks laden with petroleum, oil and lubricant. Six died in an exchange of
gunfire that followed the interception, he said. Nwachukwu said an assault
rifle, a magazine containing 13 rounds of fabricated 7.62mm, a bando XYlier of
44 rounds of 7.62mm (NATO) and a bag containing 52 rounds of 7.62mm were
recovered from at the scene. Boko Haram, which seeks to carve a territory for
itself in the vast northeast region, has claimed responsibility for terror
attacks in the area.”

 

Somalia

 

SOFREP: Somalis Push Back Al-Shabaab As Us Considers Returning To The Country
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“The Somali National Army (SNA) recently recaptured the key town of Ba’adweyn
from al-Shabaab terrorists. The SNA has been conducting offensive operations
for the past several months. Four months ago, al-Shabaab terrorists had
captured the important supply town, located in the Mudug region. They had been
using it as a base wherefrom to attack government facilities and officials,
military bases, and the population. Al-Shabaab is aligned with al-Qaeda. Somali
state media announced that early on Tuesday, Somali troops pushed al-Shabaab
out of Ba’adweyn and several neighboring towns including Haradhere and Imaamd,
forcing many of the al-Shabaab terrorists to escape after their positions
became untenable. “Somali National Army along with Galmudug regional Darwish
forces took over control of Ba’adweyn town and surrounding areas in the early
hours of Tuesday, military officials confirmed,” the state media reported.
“Troops from the 21st Division of the Somali National Army have captured
Haradhere and Imaamd, al-Shabaab stronghold villages in the Mudug region.
Terrorists fled before the Army arrived. This comes as the SNA took over full
control of the Ba’adweyn town on Tuesday morning,” the media added.”

 

Africa

 

France 24: The Murky Link Between DR Congo's ADF And Islamic State
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“Its hallmark: Attack a remote village, massacre its inhabitants and abduct
survivors. Not for nothing has the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) become a name
that inspires widespread dread in eastern DR Congo. Suspicions are growing that
this historically Ugandan Muslim group has linked up with the so-called Islamic
State, also called ISIS, although experts say the depth of the involvement
remains unclear. According to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a respected
monitor, the ADF is one of an estimated 122 armed organisations that roam
eastern DRC -- the legacy of two regional wars that ran almost back-to-back
from 1996 to 2003 and claimed millions of lives. The DRC's Catholic church says
the ADF is suspected of killing 6,000 people since 2013, while the KST blames
it for more than 1,200 deaths in North Kivu province's Beni area since 2017. On
the weekend of June 27-28, Beni was hit by three bomb attacks, including a
blast at a Catholic church, that came just hours after a suicide bombing
outside a bar -- the region's first such attack. The IS, monitored by the
US-based SITE intelligence Group, identified the suicide bomber as “Abu
Khadijah” who targeted “Christian disbelievers at a liquor bar.”

 

The National: Mozambique City At Breaking Point As Thousands Flee Conflict In
Cabo Delgado
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“Sufo Salimo arrived in the city of Pemba on June 27 after fleeing extremist
violence in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. He had escaped the town of
Palma on a boat with 24 others, making the treacherous journey south along the
Indian Ocean with his wife and his 10-year-old nephew. “Many people are being
killed,” said Mr Salimo, 26. “My brother was killed, and my sister and nephews
were kidnapped by the armed groups.” Islamic extremism has plagued Cabo Delgado
since October 2017, with Palma being targeted because of its proximity to the
province’s natural gas and oil reserves. The city has experienced increasing
attacks against civilians, with gunfire reported almost every week. Some of
these attacks have been linked to ISIS. The violence has uprooted about 800,000
people and killed more than 2,500 civilians, according to the Armed Conflict
Location & Event Data Project (Acled). Some of those killed have been beheaded,
including children. Most of the internally displaced are women and minors. More
than 70,000 people fled Palma after ISIS-linked militants attacked the town in
March, many of them to Pemba, the provincial capital about 300 kilometres down
the coast.”

 

Voice Of America: Government-Backed Militias In Burkina Faso Accused Of Abuses
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“The attack in Burkina Faso last month that killed 160 civilians was in
retaliation for activity by pro-government civilian militias in the area,
according to Human Rights Watch. In the daytime, Daouda Diallo is a scientist.
By night, he is one of Burkina Faso’s most prominent human rights campaigners.
He runs the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities, a
campaigning group set up in the wake of the Yirgou massacre, an attack that saw
around 200 people killed, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, in early 2019.
In Burkina Faso’s conflict with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, the
number of civilians killed by security forces has often come close to the
numbers killed by the terror groups. Diallo has been deeply affected by this.
“I’m a very sensitive person — I like to help the widow and the orphan, the
vulnerable. … I’ve devoted my time to this, but it's not an easy job, and I go
unpaid. I do it for humanitarian reasons,”  Diallo told VOA. Diallo also points
out that one of the government’s most controversial policies is a law that
allows preexisting civilian militias, known as koglweogos, to be armed and
trained by the government. The new force is called the Volunteers for the
Defense of the Homeland, or VDPs.”

 

United Kingdom

 

BBC News: Sales Consultant Guilty Of Bitcoin Islamic State Terrorism Funding
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“A sales consultant has been found guilty of using Bitcoin to fund the Islamic
State (IS) group. Hisham Chaudhary had denied using the cryptocurrency to back
the organisation's terrorism, and spreading propaganda online. The 28-year-old,
of Chestnut Drive, Oadby, Leicestershire, was found guilty of seven offences
under the Terrorism Act by a jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday. He will
be sentenced on 3 September. During the trial, the court heard Chaudhary
produced a “jihad” video - described as a sinister “call to arms” - that was
then spread through the internet. Chaudhary posted some videos online using the
name “John Smith”, the court was told. Counter Terrorism Policing North East
said he raised thousands of pounds and converted it to Bitcoin, which he used
to send IS money to free supporters of the group from detention camps in Syria.
Choudhary's claims his funding had a “humanitarian purpose” were described as
“a smokescreen”. The jury convicted him of four counts of disseminating a
terrorist publication, two counts of funding terrorism and one count of
membership of a proscribed organisation.”

 

China

 

Asia Times: The Terror Group China Fears The Most
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“As the US accelerates its withdrawal from Afghanistan, China is worried about
the instability to come. In May, after a series of explosions in Kabul that
killed 60 people including several schoolgirls, China’s Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said America’s “abrupt” withdrawal was a factor in the
violence. Hua said the US needed to withdraw its troops “in a responsible
manner” that avoids “inflicting more turmoil and suffering on the Afghan
people.” What she didn’t say, however, is what China fears the most about
America’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: a revival of the fundamentalist
East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and its cross-border agitation and
terrorism in China’s volatile Xinjiang region. The ETIM, also known as the
Turkistan Islamic Movement, is an ethnic Uighur militant group active in
Afghanistan that has long sought to achieve independence for Xinjiang, which it
envisions as a future “East Turkestan.” The ETIM is also active in Syria’s
civil war, where battle-hardened fighters have largely been grouped in Idlib
and other northern regions. The United Nations has categorized the group as a
“terror organization” since 2002. Curiously, the former Donald Trump
administration removed ETIM from America’s terror list in November 2020, saying
at the time there was “no credible evidence” that ETIM still exists.”

 

Southeast Asia

 

BBC News: Hong Kong Arrests Group Including Teenagers Over Alleged Terror Plot
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“Hong Kong police have arrested nine people including six high school children
over an alleged terrorist plot. Members of the group are aged between 15 and 39
years old. Police said they had rented a room in a hotel to build bombs and
planned to attack the city's courts, transport networks and streets. The
arrests come as Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam warned against “illegal ideas”
spreading through the city. The group is being held under the national security
law, which has been used to crush dissent after years of pro-democracy protests
lead by mostly young activists. Police said they seized the highly explosive
chemical triacetone triperoxide (TATP) in a hotel room that was used as a
laboratory for bomb-making equipment. Some HK$600,000 ($77,000; £56,000) linked
to the group was also traced and frozen. Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah told
reporters the group had planned “to attack some of the public facilities in
Hong Kong, including the Cross-Harbor Tunnel, railways, court rooms and they
even wanted to lay bombs in the rubbish bin on the street, with a view to
maximise the damage caused to the society.”



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